“What about kids? Marriage? Demetrius, you seem a bit older than the others—what’s your long-term plan?” Justin asked as he finished the last of his sandwich.
“I’m not that old,” Dem frowned. It was the first time one of Justin’s questions seemed to have affected him. “I’m just older than these clowns.” Regaining his composure, he continued, “We actually just discussed kids recently. We agreed we all want kids eventually, but not right now while Ivy is still young and has her performance career ahead of her.”
“How does a marriage proposal work?” Jonah asked as she fiddled with her own wedding ring. “Do you all coordinate a proposal to Ivy together? What if she wants one of you but not the other?”
“Actually, marriage proposals work a bit differently in omega packs. We don’t really do a marriage but more of a commitment ceremony, and it’s usually the omega who proposes to the entire pack,” Lukas replied absentmindedly, grabbing his third sandwich.
I immediately felt Ivy tense next to me as I smiled and playfully shook my head at Lukas.
“Are you serious?” Ivy asked, her eyes growing wide with this information.
“Oh, you didn’t know that?” Lukas paused mid-bite. “I’m sorry, sometimes I forget what you do and don’t know. I grew up in an omega household, so this all seems like secondhand knowledge to me.”
“Are you all waiting for me to propose?” Ivy had a panicked expression all over her face as she looked around at us. Her parents glanced back and forth between Ivy and Lukas.
“No, of course not,” Dem shook his head. I could sense some damage control coming in. “You just moved in here, and we’ve always taken this at your speed. There’s a reason no one’s mentioned it till now…” He shot a glare at Lukas.
“Ivy, don’t panic,” her mom reached out and patted her thigh lovingly. “We can have fun brainstorming ways to propose.”
Jonah turned her attention to us. “Ivy’s also been so finicky at trying to do everything exactly as expected of her. Sometimes you just have to tell her not to panic!”
“Ivy, don't panic, got it!” I joked, pretending to write the tip down on my palm.
“We know it’s a busy weekend. What time do you all need to leave for the first show?” Jonah asked. “And it’s just Preston and Ivy performing this weekend, correct?”
“That’s correct, but we all need to be at the theater.” Lukas leaned forward to touch Ivy’s leg before remembering not to. “We need to leave in half an hour.”
“Will you be fine here by yourselves?” Ivy gestured around the room. “You can watch TV, hop in the hot tub, or just relax from your trip.”
“Of course, we’ll be fine.” Jonah waved us off. “We’ll just poke around and get settled in.”
“Only my room’s fair game—and even that’s pushing it.” Ivy turned to the rest of us. “Let’s get ready. We leave in thirty minutes.”
Jonah chuckled slightly as all four of us stood at Ivy’s command. We exchanged smiles with each other, realizing that, yes, Ivy was indeed in charge here.
***
Ivy
There was a natural calmness that settled over my body when I waited from the wings, preparing to enter the stage and perform.
I stood next to Preston, eagerly awaiting our turn as we watched the corps piece before us. I’d survived company class drama, recast of parts, two funder’s shows, Preston’s injured wrist, and now we stood at the precipice of our very first performance together, ready to launch ourselves out as the world’s next omega couple. And if Isaac could join us performing soon, we’d be the world’s first scent-matched trio of performers.
Preston looked at me and smiled. We were nervous to perform in front of the company, nervous to perform in front of the funders, but the live audience excited us both, and the energy bounced between us.
“How’s your wrist?” I asked him as I reached up to fix his vest.
“It’s good. Nothing in this piece hurts it.” Preston flexed his wrist. “Let’s give it our all. This is it.”
“Yes, we’ve got this.” I gave him an air kiss and took my place at his side in the wings. He reached for my hand as the corps piece before us ended.
The subtle change in the stage lights indicated the stage was ready for us. My heart raced a million miles a second, but I was ready—we were ready.
Our duet music sounded out as Preston led me onstage. We locked eyes, flashed our performance smiles, and launched into the piece. There was one added element we hadn’t quite accounted for, but I immediately felt an extra boost from it—adrenaline.
The steps flowed effortlessly out of us, so polished and perfected by this point that the memory in our muscles took over. The conductor was following our rhythm exactly, giving us time to execute even more turns than previously rehearsed. What was once set as a double pirouette, we were now performing five and flawlessly transitioning to a fun low lift that sailed around the corner.
I could hear gasps from the audience; I tuned them out to focus on Preston and only him. Soon, we’d be even closer with a bond link between us, but I almost felt like it was already there.
